The Congress of these United States:

Our Legislative Branch

Money and Power

Actually, Power and Money

Power: Party Leadership

Romulus and Remus…

? __________________

? “Once assigned to a committee or subcommittee, a member is expected to specialize in its work and become an _____________ in that area”

? _________________

? “Members look for ______________ in voting on legislation outside their won committee’s field to members of the committee that ________________ in it.”

Seniority

? _____________, but very powerful rule

? Length of ___________ in office = level of seniority

? Committee chairmen have historically been selected based on seniority

? Lost some strength in the mid 70’s; now the party caucus can use appointments as rewards and punishment

? These days party _________ is also a major factor in appointments to plum positions

Caucus

? A _______________ of all the members of that party who are serving in a particular house of Congress

? The Republican majority in the House calls its caucus the Republican Conference

? The Caucus/Conference chooses the minority/majority ________ and the _______

? Not to be confused with Presidential caucuses

? Many sub-groups have their own caucus

Majority and Minority Leadership

? Majority Leader – Political Leader

– Steny Hoyer (MD) House; Harry Reid (NV) Senate

? Minority Leader – I’d be the boss if WE were in charge

– John Boehner (OH) House; Mitch McConnell (KY)

? Whips – coordinate party positions

– Name comes from English ______________________

? “Whipper-in” keeps dogs from ______________________

– Counts votes

– Keeps votes in line

Party Loyalty

? __________%!

? ___________: members who show less __________ to their ________ and do not abide by informal rules

? Now, not a single chairman in either side believes they are there because of the leadership. (Dick Army)

Show Me the Money

Revenue and Appropriations

Appropriations

? Appropriation: the ________ authorization to _____________ governmental funds

? How we fund government

? ____________: Ways and Means, Finance

? _____________: Appropriations Committee

? The Big Picture, the whole process: Budget Committees

To spend money you need:

? Authorization (an appropriation)

? Funds (revenue)

? You must have _______________

– A check book with checks but no cash on deposit will get you in trouble

– Cash in the bank, but a lost ATM card still means no ___________

You gotta start somewhere…

? And for money, you start in the _____________________

? Article I, Section 7 (1) All Bills for raising Revenue shall ___________ in the _________ of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

The 1974 Budget Act

? An attempt to address the lack of a ____________ economic __________

? Set up Budget Committees in each house to review President’s Budget in light of all taxing and spending measures

? _________________ Committees set total spending, tax and debt levels

? Staff for the Budget Committees is the Congressional Budget Office

– Non-partisan, but not impartial

– Legislative/Executive ______________

Fiscal Calendar

? Fiscal means having to do with ______________

? My Budgetary clock is “ticking like this!”

? Federal _____________ Year: October 1 to September 30

? President submits budget in January

? Budget Committees reviews his plan and sets overall taxing and spending levels in a resolution which must be approved by April 15th

? By mid-June, standing committees have made recommendations to Budget Committee, which draws up a _______________ bill.

If they can’t come to agreement, things will shut down, unless they pass a _____________ resolution. Sadly, these are not uncommon.

Line Item Veto

? Declared _________________ in 1998

? No line item veto means the President cannot separate out objectionable items from important, helpful items.

? Throw out the “baby with the bathwater”

? _____________ – a piece of legislation attached as an amendment to another, possible totally unrelated bill

Pork

? Oink, oink, oink…

– Pork Barrel Spending

? Bringing home the ______________

? Items of interest to your constituents

? (and in a worst case scenario, of service to no one else!)

? Trent Lott: There are really three parties: Republicans, Democrats and Appropriats

Two Key Terms

? Deficit

? The Federal Government does not require a balanced budget!

? The difference between __________ (receipts) and expenditures (_____________)

? An _____________ measurement of the shortfall

? The opposite of surplus

? Too much spending, not enough money!

? Estimated FFY 2007 deficit: $172 billion (CBO)

? _____________ from $337 in 06!

? Debt

? What we ________________ to cover accumulated deficits

? The interest will eat you alive!

? We _____________ from ourselves and others

? You can have debt without deficits!

? We had balanced budgets (no deficit) in 1998-2001, but we still had debt

? Current debt: llig.com/debt_clock/ licdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdpdodt.htm

Other Powers

Advise and Consent:
Confirming and Ratifying

? The Senate ____________ the President’s Appointments

? Judicial

? Executive

? Diplomatic

? They can __________ the authority to fill certain “inferior” positions without confirmation

? Again, committees do the work

? A major component of checks and balances

? The Senate Must _______________ all Treaties

? Foreign Relations Committee

? A major component of _________ and ____________

? The Executive retains the power of _____________ on this. (Can you say Kyoto?)

Oversight

? We brought you into the world and we can take you out! (But they never do…)

? General Accounting Office (The GAO)

– Examines governmental programs and departments

– Looks for fiscal _________, consistency with legislative intent, and ____________ of operations

– Analogous to Legislative Auditors at the state level

Investigation

? Congress can investigate ____________ it wishes!

? Often viewed as a grandstanding, ___________ activity

? Oh yeah, this really _________ with legislative/ executive tension!

? Joe McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee

Impeachment

? The _________ impeaches; the _______ holds the ___________

? Johnson 1868

? Clinton 1998

– Impeached but _________ convicted

? Nixon 1974

– ______________ instead of facing impeachment

? Federal ____________ can be (and have been) impeached (and convicted)

The War Powers Act

? Congress has not used its constitutional power to declare war since ________

? Criticism of the President’s role in _________ led to the War Powers Act of 1973

? The President may only commit troops abroad for a period of ___ days, (90 if including withdrawal)

? ____________ must approve a longer period

? ______________ vetoed it, they over-rode the veto

? Presidents don’t like it, but tend to go for some sort of authorizing resolution from Congress

? Remember, no matter what, Congress still __________ things!

You Gotta Draw the Line Somewhere…

Apportionment, Incumbency and Reform

I Count!

? 25 cent word for the day: __________ census

? Article 1, Section 2 (3) …the actual _______…within every subsequent Term of ___ years

? The census was created to establish the correct number of voters. (Everything else is bonus, or ___________-constitutional, take your pick!)

Apportionment

? Apportionment

? Mal-apportionment large differences in the _________ of Congressional districts

? Re-Apportionment – the process of re-distributing the populations amongst districts

? _________ – the process of drawing the lines on the maps. Sounds simple, right?

? _________ draw Federal House Lines

– (Why not Senate?)

? Their processes vary dramatically!

Bad Boys, Bad Boys…

? ____________ – Governor Eldridge Gerry’s Salamander shaped district

? Drawing district lines for _____________ purposes

? Packing and Cracking

– Packing – putting _______ of your people in one district

– Cracking – ______________ out the opposition so they can’t win

? As Little Texas says: God Blessed Texas…It ain’t boring!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Changes in Apportionment

? Here Come the Judge: Baker v. Carr

– Apportionment is _____________; they will go “into the thicket”

? “I Want to Soak Up the Sun”

– Population _____________ to the Sunbelt means Yankees are loosing seats.

? Big Guns, like Delay are purported to be involved in state level issues

? ______________ is solidifying

No More Snow for Me!

Incumbency

? Incumbency:

– Being the ____________ officeholder

? Advantages:

– Staff

– _______________ (mail)

– Publicity

? Disadvantages

– We hate the __________ of incumbency

? _____________ pays off for incumbents!

? In 2006 ___% of House members and ___% of Senators won re-elections

? Term Limits

? 23 States have passed term limits for their officials

? Federal Officials remain ___________

? Arkansas’s little role in all this:

? US TERM LIMITS vs Thornton

? Some at the Federal level have volunteered to “self-limit”

? (and generally failed to keep the promise)

? Generally, the trend is ___________

Campaign Finance Reform

? _____________ it!

Congress In a Nutshell

? A House and a Senate makes a _________

? ______ of Bills

– Few pass

? _________ rich, Heavy on the __________

? LOTS of _________

– But less than there once was

? At the Moment: ____________ Controlled

? ___________ are where the work gets done

? They legislate, appropriate, confirm and ratify, oversee and investigate

? _______________ by design

? _____________, with Checks and Balances

? Where we all have a _________

? Where ________ laws are made

____ congress: they _______ for ____